Jhonny Peralta
Jhonny Antonio Peralta (born May 28, 1982) is a Dominican Major League Baseball shortstop and third baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals. He previously played for the Cleveland Indians and the Detroit Tigers. Playing career Peralta was signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent in 1999. In 2000, the 18-year old Peralta began his pro career with the Columbus RedStixx, the Class A affiliate of the Indians in the South Atlantic League. he batted .241 in 106 games, playing all but one game at shortstop (the other was at third base). The following season he advanced to Kinston Indians, the Tribe's High-A affiliate in the Carolina League. In 125 games, he batted .240. In 2002, Peralta move up to the Class-AA Akron Aeros, where he hit .281. 2003 and 2004 Peralta made his major league debut with Cleveland on June 12, 2003, filling in for the injured Omar Vizquel. He would go on to hit .227 with 4 home runs and 21 Runs batted in in 2003. In 2004, despite great Triple-A numbers, Peralta only saw 25 at-bats in eight games with the Indians due to the presence of perennial Gold Glover and fan favorite Vizquel, who left the Indians as a free agent after the 2004 season. By this time, Peralta had established himself as one of the minor league's better hitters in his time with the Akron Aeros and Buffalo Bisons. He was the 2004 Player of the Year in the International League, helping Buffalo win the International League championship. Staying in the major leagues Peralta became Cleveland's full time starting shortstop early in the 2005 season. He is establishing himself as an up-and-coming young hitter. In the 2005 season, Peralta batted .292; his 24 HR and 78 RBI were Indians records for a shortstop. He entrenched himself in the third slot in the batting order in the potent Indians lineup and showed a knack for clutch late-inning hits. On March 10, 2006, Peralta agreed to a five-year contract with an option for a sixth year to stay with the Indians until the 2011 season. The base of the contract is worth approximately $13 million, while the option will bring Peralta $7 million. However, his 2006 season saw a decline both offensively and defensively from 2005. At the start of spring training in 2007, it was revealed that Peralta suffered from vision problems in 2006 and had corrective LASIK eye surgery to deal with it. Peralta hit his first inside-the-park-home-run on July 18, 2010, against the Detroit Tigers. Detroit Tigers On July 28, 2010, he was traded to the Detroit Tigers for minor league pitcher Giovanni Soto and cash considerations. He was forced to change his longtime uniform number from 2 to 27 since the Tigers have retired 2 in honor of Charlie Gehringer. On July 30, 2010, Peralta hit a home run in his first plate appearance as a Tiger and then another in his third plate appearance. St. Louis Cardinals Peralta was acquired by the Cardinals in a three team trade with the Red Sox and the Tigers. The Red Sox recieved Brayan Villarreal and the Tigers recieved Jose Iglesias. In 2015, Peralta was named the sharting shortstop for the National League(NL) All-Star Team. As of August 5, he is the NL shortstop leader in home runs. Name spelling In an interview with the Santo Domingo Times on March 11, 2007, he claims that he is the only person named "Jhonny" with the name spelled correctly; all other "Johnnies" are misspelled. He has refused to have it changed. The letter combinations "Jh" or "Gh" are sometimes used in the Spanish language to represent the English "J" sound, as the "J" in Spanish is normally pronounced as an English "H". Category:Detroit Tigers Category:Cleveland Indians Category:Players Category:Detroit Tigers players Category:Cleveland Indians players